Chapter 20

The mayor rubbed his temples. He couldn’t believe what had happened. He was inside Freedom Squad Headquarters in Protector’s room sitting in a chair. Protector was lying in a bed only a few feet from where he was sitting, and Starlight stood over him.

“What just happened?” asked the mayor. “Defiance was about to crush me. Now, I’m here?”

“As mayor of this fine city, you should know that you are in safe hands. The noble heroes of Megalopolis are currently outwitting the foul villains outside,” stated Starlight flatly.

The mayor stared blankly at Starlight.

“Mr. Mayor?”

The mayor stood up. “Starlight, how did I get here and please use standard English?”

“My apologies, sir. Velocity brought you. I am to defend you if the battle goes poorly, however, it appears that Freedom Squad has triumphed.”

“Who is, no, wait, by Velocity are you being scientific or… never mind, I need to make a call. Afterwards, I want a full explanation from Rigel,” he looked over at Protector. “What happened to him?”

“I believe it was the work of a super-villain known as the Ace of Spades.”

“Fine, Starlight, stay here with Protector. I’m going to have a talk with Rigel.”

The mayor stepped out into the hallway and began walking toward the front. As he walked, he typed a single word text into his encrypted phone. “Nuclear.”

Outside, Rigel stepped back from Defiance. “G’Day,” she said, “welcome back, Defiance. He’s gone. You are free.”

“I can think,” he said.

Several members of the Megalopolis police stood in a semi-circle around them, weapons pointed at Defiance. Nightstar stood beside Rigel, still partially in his faux Future Soldier armor. Rockslide loomed over all of them.
Agent King of Homeland Security approached through the semi-circle, holding neutralizer bracers. “Defiance, you are under arrest.”

“I’m sorry, Agent King,” said Rigel, “but I need to keep him in my custody for a short while. He was being partially mind-controlled by a villain known as the Ace of Spades. He was formerly known as the hero, Psionicist.”

“I don’t mind going with Homeland Security,” said Defiance.

Nightstar cleared his throat. “What?”

Rockslide rumbled.

“Don’t worry,” said Rigel. “Defiance, I’m sure you don’t mind going with Agent King, but I need to spend some more time in your mind. It will help me find the Ace of Spades.” She looked back and forth from Agent King to Defiance.

“I’m sure you both want me to bring him to justice.”

Agent King asked, “Is he back?”

“Yes,” said Rigel, “for the first time in years, Defiance has his mind back.”

“Thank you, Rigel,” said Defiance, “but I’ve done terrible things.”

Multiple communicators flashed and beeped alerts. Agent King said, “We have a problem. The reactor at Megalopolis State is under attack. The initial report is Fusion.”

“That’s a problem,” said Nightstar. “He’s a living nuclear reactor and nearly unstoppable. I fought him with New Citadel. If it wasn’t for Blazar’s control rods and some luck with my psychic blade, he might have turned San Francisco into a radioactive wasteland.”

“Agent King,” said Rigel, “can your agents and the police finish up with the super-villains here?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“Good,” Rigel said. She spoke into her communicator. “Starlight, I need you to go to the reactor at Megalopolis State University. We have a nuclear-powered super-villain to deal with. Grab Ion and go. Solaria and Snowfall, fly after them. I’ll carry Rockslide and Nightstar.”

“What about me?” asked Velocity.

“I’d like you to stay here and watch the mayor and Protector. If something happens, I know that you can get them to safety fast,” she said. “And if I need you, you won’t be far.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’m coming,” said Defiance, stepping forward.

“You can’t go,” said Agent King. “You are a wanted fugitive.

“I have to go. I need to help,” he said. “I have the power to help them.”

Agent King met his eyes. Neither one said anything, but Cori didn’t need her telepathy to know what they were thinking. Defiance had been guarding her in his mind, protecting her from the Ace of Spades, despite everything that had happened to him. The Ace didn’t know that Stacy King was still investigating him.

“I’ll take responsibility for him,” said Rigel. She looked at Defiance, “Go and stop Fusion.”

Agent King said, “I will hold you and your team responsible. Don’t let me down, Rigel.”

Rigel telepathically spoke to Agent King, “Stacy, I won’t let the two of you lose each other. You have my word. I’ll bring him back.”

Everyone took off into the sky.

Inside the base, the mayor stepped into the Monitor Room. The team was doing what he had expected. Fusion was working as the perfect distraction, an ‘ace’ up his sleeve. He chuckled to himself.

He went over to the consoles. Rigel’s new security measures protected the base from the outside, but he was authorized and inside the base. After entering his password and going through retina verification, the display read “Access Granted.”

“Of course, it is. I’m the mayor after all.”

He began to hack into the systems at Megalopolis State University. The security was decent, but it wasn’t any match for his skills. All systems were rerouted to his control.

“The poor staff on duty at the reactor are probably too scared to be paying much attention,” he mused, “They’ll soon be watching the security cameras to see how Fusion is doing against Freedom Squad, or well, Freedom Squad is doing against Fusion.”

Based on his calculations, Defiance and Freedom Squad would fight Fusion to a standstill. Before the battle ended, he would be able to send the reactor into a full meltdown. It was a small reactor, so it would only be the university and anyone nearby who would be killed.

It would have worked better if Defiance had been able to be apprehended and brought back under control. Causing the jailbreak had been a calculated risk, and Rigel had proven to be far more formidable than he had expected.

Still, worthy opponents were rare, and he’d miss Freedom Squad. Except maybe for Ion.

“Ion, you are about to find that radiation leak.” The mayor smirked.

The mayor used his security access to seal the Monitor Room. By the time anyone got in, it would be too late.